Sport in London - Essay Example

A comparative study of sport in London using the London Metro Newspaper and the Museum of London on London and the Olympics For decades, sporting activities in London have been documented in different sources. In 1900s, some established sport spectators, had already established key events in the year which lead to a season in London (Drago, 2005). Throughout the twentieth century, these activities have continued without any limitations. For instance, in March residents take part in Cambridge and Oxford race boat on the Thames is observed, in April, individuals take part in the day horse derby race at Epsom, and in July, the championship of Lawn Tennis is observed. Additionally, there is also the premier league football which is normally observed annually. To date, there are still popular and well attended sporting events, which are viewed by many individuals due to the television coverage (Jonhnson, 2007). In the twentieth century, there has been a massive change from the tradition of the gentleman amateur which had covered the entire Victorian sport into professionalism that is new. However, this is different depending on the type of sport. In the start of the twentieth century, the sport that was leading was the cricket which had been organised on the basis of counties. In London, this was interpreted as the County Cricket club County (Citron, 2003). In this respect, the tentative span of sports in London has clearly been observed. It is also evident that there are some discrepancies in the management of sports within London. In order to understand the sport in London and address the emerging issues, it would be vital to study operations of the sporting activities in London. In this regard, there are varied qualitative and quantitative approaches that could be used in highlighting the aspects of sports in London (Mandell, 2010). In this respect, this paper assesses two different sources which could be of use in researching sports in London. The paper evaluates the ability and limitations of the two sources in researching sports in London. The first source is the London Metro newspaper that gives out the general map of sports in London. This source has a number of collections of articles on sport and sporting activities in London. The source contains not only the latest stories on the ongoing premier league by also the latest updates on the London Olympics. This newspaper celebrates and reflects on the significant London’s diversity through memories, opinions, and voices of the Londoners. The next source is the Museum of London on London and the Olympics. This source is a mirror towards the Paralympic and Olympic games in London. The source gives a reflection of the Olympic Games heritage in a display that is revised. This source is a global and local perspective concerning the games which highlights not only the Londoners experience but also the experience of the visiting athletes such as the team of Peruvian in 1948. Trough the comparison and contrast of the two sources, this paper evaluates the relative usefulness of the sources as researching tools. In this assessment, this paper will use questions such as: I. What is the objective of each source? II. How does each source present its findings? III. How does each source help in studying and research sport? IV. What are the weaknesses and the strengths of the two sources? The initial two sections of the paper would evaluate each source. The third part of the paper could give a conclusion in which combined results of the two sources would give in a study that is detailed on sport and would give suggestions concerning the changes in sports through a methodological shift to the experiential narratives generation. The London Metro Newspaper is the newspaper that is normally published by the Newspapers Associated Ltd. The newspaper is normally distributed each and every day with exclusion of bank holidays. The Newspaper is distributed using services of public transport in London. This newspaper was introduced in London in the year 1999 (Searl, 2012). The paper is normally produced in editions that are localised for Londoners. This source is designed to be used by individuals on the commute. It contains news that is bite-size instead of bulky World news which may appear in other related newspapers. The section of feature contains article mix on different topics like sports and sporting activities. This newspaper gives out an extensive and accurate news concerning sports in London. For instance, the newspaper highlights articles on sporting activities such as athletics, football, cycling, and gymnastics. The London Metro newspaper is one example of qualitative research, which specifically aimed at bringing sport news to the Londoners. The paper gives out news which reflects on each and every aspect of a certain sport. For instance, football is a feature at considerable length in this newspaper. In the sport section, there are about ten news articles that have been written with intentions of informing the landowners about the updates of the ongoing premier league. These articles cultivate various factors, which could be, behind sports, looking at not only the participation of individual but also the manner in which people invest in the sports. For example, one article featured in the sport section of this newspaper has a title ‘London should have world champions in swimming after the success of Olympic’ (Springsteen, 2012). This article is a presentation of views from the world swimming head in London. This means that one of the challenges of sports like swimming in London is that there has never been championship for this sport. The article continues to argue out that London had booked to host the European championships in 2016 at the Aquatic Olympic centre, and the part would be hosting athletes and hockey competitions. The author of this article is trying to voice out his views concerning the issues in sports within London. The Newspaper, therefore, is an avenue for Londoners to voice out their point of views concerning sports and other factors in their countries. These views are extremely crucial for a sport study. This implies that through the many articles on sport and sporting activities in London, a researcher is able to obtain a full mirror of the condition of sport in London. Another example of a news article in this newspaper which is of interest is an article by the title ‘London 2012 Makers games honoured with stamps for Olympic contribution’ (Searl, 2012). This article highlights the fact that the 2012 game makers were honoured due to their contribution towards the Olympics. This article implies that the stakeholders in London sports are always rewarded as means of motivation. In this article is one proof that the London Metro newspaper is one of the vital tools in studying sports within London. From the evidences given, this newspaper’s key objective has always been to give out information to researchers regarding sensitive aspects in the country, which in this case, are sports. The key strength of the London Metro Newspaper is the manner in which the news and findings are displayed, specifically in regards to sports where the participation of Londoners in sports is evident, and bands of classification are articulated and denoted clearly (Magee, 2003). Apart from this, looking and searching for different areas of sport on the site is extremely easy due to the organization of the site that has highlighted collections (Duff, 2004). The existence of the search engine which can be used to search according to a specific sport makes the utility of the site in research to be quite entertaining. The newspaper also gives room for original correspondences and papers which gives out insight towards the basic research made. The newspaper gives room for quick and easy cross-comparison between different news by arranging the different news on sport under a large heading and establishing hyperlinks so as to avoid navigation. The key weakness of this source deals with the research objectivity that is conducted by different authors in the newspaper. From the study of the news articles, it is evident that sports in London are a national concern. The assumptions and purpose that the authors of the newspaper articles could have carried to their research could have affected the studies’ subjectivity (Duff, 2004). Additionally, the newspaper news and the article does not give out clear explanation regarding the methods (Hess, 2002). The inclusion of primary factors assists the researchers to identify the news, but the real source is normally difficult to be deciphered and fails to be consistent in different surveyors. Another weakness is that the varying approach used by various authors of the news is one limitation of this source. On the other hand, the Museum of London on London and the Olympics is one example of a research that is quantitative research. The online page compiles a written quantitative analysis of sports in London. In this source, an article with a title ‘ Ahead of the London 2012 Paralympic and Olympic London museum reflects on the heritage of Olympic games’, gives out highlights concerning sports in London (Museum of London, 2002). From this source, London has obtained popularity in the sports especially football within the twentieth century. Huge activities of sporting have been hosted by the city such as the third modern Olympics in the year 1908 and the year 1948. However, none of the activities brought impact that is lasting in London (Cotten, 2002). This source also explains that many activities of sports have had durations of fall and rise, by the association with specific social groups and relying on the participation cost. For instance, boxing in London had been an East end sport from a working class and tennis was a sport for middle class. Golf, on the other hand, was an exclusive and aspiration suburb sport in 1900s (Keeton, 2007). The objective of this source was to form a quantitative study and facilitate the understanding of the actual activities of sport in London. In this respect, the source emphasises the lives, expectations, and people’s diversities. The source addresses sports in London giving room for research in other fields. The massive spectrum of experimental data provides a chance for gaining an insight towards the dynamic sport, how different individuals experience, cope, and participate in it (Healey, 2005). The source structure explores the different types of sports and its effect towards the Londoners. From this source, it is evident that London has been hosting a number of sporting activities. It is also evident that some sports in London are associated with certain social class of individuals in the society. This source, therefore, gives out a reflection of sport and sporting activities within London. “In 1948, a team of 41 individuals was sent by Peru to London. The team competed in seven sporting activities such as free pistol shooting in which Edwin Vasquez was the winner of the gold medal. In 1948, the team of Peruvian, included William Ahrens, a player of basket ball, Enrique Raig, an athlete, and Luis Poggi a cyclist” (Museum of London, 2002). This statement is an extract from London and the Olympics. The extract is clear evidence that London was hosting sporting activities involving participants from other regions. The rest of the source establishes a picture concerning the actual sporting activities (Eassom, 2004). Comparing this source with the later, this source presents views from one author, whereas the newspaper presents views from a number of authors. In this respect, the analysis of data from this source is less accurate than that of the London Metro newspaper (Clarke, 2000). Apart from this, information from one author could be biased hence not reliable compared to information from various authors. The Museum of London on London and Olympics is a source that mirrors the behaviour of London in regards to sports. However, having one author presents a questionable study or views to the researcher. The strength of the Museum of London on London and Olympics is the manner in which the information and arguments are displayed, specifically in regards to sports where the participation of Londoners in sports is evident, and bands of classification are articulated and denoted clearly (Drago, 2002). This article presents a diversity of issues in sport. Factors such as social class, ethnicity, asylum, political ethnicity, and other factors behind sports, are identified. Apart from this, looking and searching for different areas of sport on the site is extremely easy due to the organization of the site that has highlighted collections. The source also gives room for original correspondences and papers which gives out insight towards the basic research made. The weakness of this source deals with the research objectivity that is conducted by one author of the source. In many situations, a study from one author would always present the authors personal views and not the actual study. In this respect, the study may be biased to a certain level. From the study of the source, it is evident that sports in London are a national concern. The assumptions and purpose that the author of the source could have carried to their research could have affected the studies’ subjectivity (Fast, 2004). Additionally, the article does not give out clear explanation regarding the methods of collecting data. The study does not present views and opinions from other Londoners. The inclusion of primary factors assists the researchers to identify the issues in sports but the real source is hard to be deciphered and fails to be consistent in different surveyors (Bernardi, 2009). The source has no search engine which makes it difficult to be used in research of specific topics thus the utility of the site in research may be quite frustrating. Through the combination of the two sources, the evaluation of sports in London can easily be identified. It is evidenced that sports in London is a national concern and that most Londoner treasure sporting activities. Issues in sporting activity like the discrimination of some social class are also raised from the two sources (Fast, 2004). In this regard, there is a need for more research on sports in London than whatever is done in this study. Increased research would help to create solutions into the challenges in London sports. In this case, studies like those of the Museum of London on London and Olympics, are required to give a compilation of data that are quantitative which could be used in making statistics (Aghainia, 2009). A shift from quantitative to qualitative analysis has been observed in the two sources. Since rich information was generated from the two sources, the new approach towards sports could be revealed rather than holding onto the old sporting activities in the confines of a certain region. 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